Formula One

Formula 1: Drive to Survive is actually quite an amazing docu-series and this is coming from somebody who is highly critical of Netflix productions, especially their paint-by-the-numbers documentaries.

I'd say Ferrari and Mercedes are basically the definition of being a stick in the mud and not seeing the bigger picture by refusing access for this doc, but the series is overall better because of it. I think some lesser known names got a shine because of Ferrari and Mercedes refusing to partake. Documentaries are driven by compelling stories and especially the personalities on camera and there were some really great personalities here such as Haas Team Principal - Guenther Steiner. On the contrary, it exposes what I perceive to be a relatively immature and generally unlikeable Danial Ricardo - somebody who I was indifferent about in the past. Lots of people get their shine here.

There are great characters but also some really great candid moments captured here too. Again, I'd like to commend Netflix and their coordinators, producers, and story writers for getting this level of access with F1. Not many documentaries can pull this off. There are some tense and awkward scenes between Red Bull and Renault captured perfectly and in the moment they occur.

I'd put this on par with anything HBO does in their 24/7 series or ESPN Films' 30 for 30 which I think is the bar. I hope Ferrari and Mercedes come around for a second season (knock on wood) as they clearly don't see the bigger picture. HBO films boxers training and they map out their entire game plan on film. They follow hockey teams into the locker room and film entire strategies unfolding for the camera just as the players in the room digest them. Doing this won't give your rivals an advantage, it just provides people with insight towards how things function within a team. Ferrari isn't going to lose to Williams because they let a film crew expose some internal strategy or struggle.

What Ferrari/Mercedes will gain is a stronger audience and they will help bring more fans into F1. Netflix is BIG and anybody around the world can watch this. Imagine the impact it can have on, say, a North American motorsport fan who never really got into F1 as much as they did NASCAR?

Back to the film itself - the editing is paced really well where each episode introduces some new characters then carefully unravels their stories throughout 20-30 minutes. I think the sheer amount of footage makes it really easy to jump around different scenes in a race without it feeling disorienting.

All in all, I highly recommend this to any sports fans. Its the best docuseries Netflix has made yet. I rate it a solid 8/10.

Despite clear cut regulations - maximum of six suspension components; Williams for whatever reason added a seventh illegal part to their car which they are forced to remove before Australia. They are also required to revise their side mirrors.

Charlie Whiting has died. What a sad start for the new season. He was only 66. Basically an iconic and integral part of the sport, the rules master who had spent decades in the world of F1.https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47564762

Incredible sad news this morning. Charlie Whiting felt like one of the real "good guys" in the F1 world. He kept an eye on his boys (the drivers) during the race and seemed like an incredible humble person. This one hit me hard. You will be missed, Charlie

Champing at the bit here. Its been years since I've watched F1. To pair our gaming hobbies with our sports interests... I'm gonna play Mirrors Edge Catalyst until 2am ET when the qualifying starts here in Canada. I might watch until 2:30am or 3:00 then I gotta sleep.

I'm just excited. This year I watched NFL for the first time in forever and now F1. Feels good to be back into sports. It was waaaaay easier back in the day when your parents paid for TV packages.

The qualifying was pretty interesting to watch, liked it a lot. Maybe there's some added bonus from the new season as well. Bottas nearly took it, but Hamilton's gonna Hamilton, a tough guy to beat. The midfield's situation seemed really intense, everyone really close to one another. Haas did very well with both cars in Q3, while Renault had a disappointing opening. Norris on McLaren had a great start to the season, while Gasly on the other hand had it really rough, uhh. That seemed like Red Bull's fault, though, to be honest. Strategy-wise. Kimi made it to the Top10 which is now the thing I guess I'm hoping every race on Alfa Romeo.

Feels great to see this circus back again! My favourite sport to follow.

Yeah that was some interesting results, which really show that you cant trust testing times. Do we think anyone sandbaged during testing? Hamilton will always be Hamilton, after all these years I still get surprised over just how darn good he is in terms on being able to squeeze out that little bit extra when he really needs to.

I am so so happy that we FINALLY are back with F1, it feels like its been forever, for some reason this winter break feels longer than previous ones. I hope we get a close season and a real fight between Mercedes and Ferrari.

What a performance from Bottas indeed. That was honestly just perfect now, the start and the dominance throughout the race. That radio conversation about the extra point, the desire to have it. It must be the beard working its magic. But yeah, Hamilton was like 22 secs behind in the end, you don't see that everyday. Man I hope that this season would be more even between the Mercedes drivers. Like 2016 with Rosberg.

Ferrari seemed slower than many had perhaps anticipated. Verstappen made it look easy compared to them, Red Bull was flying in his hands. Leclerc rose quickly towards the end, gaining on Vettel, but it seemed like they froze the situation at that point when he was a second away from the German. Things might have been a bit more unexpected in more than one way on Ferrari's wall today.

Kimi had a decent/solid race, got that P8 which seemed reasonable. Really crowded around P10 there, 5-6 cars very close to each others. The situation with Haas and Grosjean was pretty unbelievable, again the same thing with the pit stop and one of the tires. Rough as hell. McLaren's engine failure was also a terrible way to start the season. And Ricciardo's start on Renault ended up being a disaster literally after the first 50 metres or so.

I just did some research into F1 Replay. I was wondering why its cheaper in Canada than in the USA (that's NEVER the case). Well lo and behold, its because our sports network TSN owned by Bell Media (one of two major media corporations holding a monopoly over Canadian telecommunications) still has the right to first broadcast in Canada, meaning F1 Pro isn't available here for at least one more season.

I'd happily pay $100/yr for an archive of documentary footage, old races, LIVE qualifying, and LIVE races as it available to stream in the US and other nations. Our media monopoly drives me insane sometimes. Bell and Rogers lobby the government to forbid phone companies from offering better deals because they are greedy and don't like fair competition. I hope to god F1 doesn't renew a bad deal with them in 2020 and they offer streaming in Canada.

Based on everything I've read, the new F1 owners, Liberty Media, do in fact make consumer friendly TV contracts with broadcasters and F1 has been improving in this regard. I almost feel inclined to write them an email or something kindly asking they don't do an antiquated TV deal in Canada for 2020. For frame of reference, Rogers didn't want to lose WWE when they released WWE Network so in Canada in order to get WWE Network, you have to subscribe to a Rogers TV channel AND WWE Network and can only sign into the portal through your TV provider which is ridiculous and costs hundreds of dollars when in the US its $10/month to stream online.

Ferrari is having a great pace in Bahrain. A top-notch qualification from Leclerc, track record and all. My mind seems to be this season that if not Bottas, then Leclerc. It'd be really welcome to see these two having a great season without accidents and engine problems. Haas is still showing strong performance as well, but so is McLaren, and also with both their drivers. Renault, on the other hand, is having some difficulties to get into Q3. And poor Williams... in a league of their own, so to speak.

Now that was a race with happenings. An interesting show! What a horrible fate for Leclerc, he had it on the palm of his hand and then that happened. Tough to watch. But he'll surely have his win later on this season, a really capable guy. Vettel, on the other hand, made a pure mistake of his own under Hamilton pressure. And so Mercedes suddenly has the maximum constructor points after two races. I'm happy for Bottas for these results. Kimi's currently "the best of the rest", nice job on Alfa. But what in the actual hell happened to Renault? BOTH cars have a mechanical failure literally within 10-15 seconds of each others. That's simply unbelievable. The hell happened, that was miserable.

It sucks that Leclerc had his engine issue with 10 laps to go instead of 2 or 3. He might have been able to hang on and get the win. Good race though - it was also 11am my time so I didn't die watching it at 3am or something.

Vettel falling off was disappointing too. I don't entirely know what happened. Did he mess up under pressure as Hamilton passed him or did his right tire lock up? I'm not seasoned enough to really tell what was going on there.

It was a good race. I do really feel bad for Leclerc, he has really grown on me just for these past two races. Also Kimi shows that he is still the old fox we know and love, the comment about his front wing "I dont know, you tell me" really made me chuckle. Seb's spin just made me facepalm, he needs to stop doing that, it was same last season that he got a fun spins under presure. I feel really puzzled about the Renaults, hopefully they can come back next race.

@sentinel-beach That is pretty sweet! I know that Sky has done something similar earlier seasons. I like it even though sometimes it feels like they are very biased towards certain drivers. I think this will be proper though. looking forward to following it.

Also I have started to listen to "back of the Grid" F1 podcast whilst cooking, its rather entetainment and they disucuss drivers and races as well as news and stuff. You can find it on most podcast services, including spotify.